i financed the entire vehicle with only 1500 down through BMW. it sometime could be the reason why they make the sale with you as well. if they almost break even on the car and make some interest on you, they will sell the car. if you are not going to finance a lot, it wont even matter to you. just pay it off quicker. if you can generate more than the interest rates that they offering you by investing or doing something else, keep your cash. don't trust them when they said their financing rates are fixed either. they told me 2.99% initially. we eventually settled 1.99%. the finance guy was nice enough to tell me about the rebates since i came in a BMW and also offered me free LoJack.